Review: Anomaly

Anomaly by Krista McGee
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: July 9, 2013
Buy Links:

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Book Description:

Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.

Thalli is different than others in The State. She feels things. She asks questions. And in the State, this is not tolerated. The Ten scientists who survived the nuclear war that destroyed the world above believe that emotion was at the core of what went wrong—and they have genetically removed it from the citizens they have since created. 

Thalli has kept her malformation secret from those who have monitored her for most of her life, but when she receives an ancient piece of music to record as her community’s assigned musician, she can no longer keep her emotions secreted away.

Seen as a threat to the harmony of her Pod, Thalli is taken to the Scientists for immediate annihilation. But before that can happen, Berk—her former Pod mate who is being groomed as a Scientist—steps in and persuades the Scientists to keep Thalli alive as a test subject.

The more time she spends in the Scientist’s Pod, the clearer it becomes that things are not as simple as she was programmed to believe. She hears stories of a Designer—stories that fill her mind with more questions: Who can she trust? What is this emotion called love? And what if she isn’t just an anomaly, but part of a greater design?

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Holy twist Batman!

I was so not expecting that ending, not even a little. Anomaly by Krista McGee follows 17-year-old Thalli, an anomaly, in the new “world” that was created by scientists to live in the wake of a nuclear disaster. The plot of this story is incredibly unique. I’ve never read anything like it before, but I do have to say I was expecting something a little different.

I enjoyed how inquisitive Thalli was and the connection she had with Berk. I also really liked how descriptive McGee was with the pods and the underground world they had created. Having people born for a specific task is an interesting idea. Knowing that people who are “different” or question the state get annihilated is super intense.

Anomaly was well written, powerful, and different. I like all the twists and turns that were thrown at the reader, especially in the end. We got a chance to see the characters grow as people and questions things they were taught not to question. I really loved the music tie in and all the neurological talk was really interesting.

I’m not sure what I liked most about this story, I think it was the connection between Thalli and Berk. It was nice seeing how much he cared about her even though he wasn’t supposed to. Anomaly was definitely an interesting read, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of the creator parts of the story, the plot, character development, and meat of the story kept me reading. 

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Author Bio:

Krista writes for teens, teaches teens, and more often than not, acts like a teen. She and her family have lived and ministered in Texas, Costa Rica, and Spain. Her current hometown is Tampa, FL.

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